Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point, Outliers and David and Goliath, tweeted about the Canadian distance star (though without a tag) to his more than 520,000 Twitter followers on Feb. 1. Gladwell, a distance runner himself and Ontario high school track champion in the late 1970s, regularly tweets about the sport. (Examples here, here and here.)

Just found out that the greatest young Canadian distance runner, Justyn Knight, HAS A JAMAICAN MOTHER!!! Once I calm down I’m taking the rest of the week off to celebrate. 🇨🇦🇯🇲👍🏾

“Just found out that the greatest young Canadian distance runner, Justyn Knight, has a Jamaican mother,” he tweeted. “Once I calm down I’m taking the rest of the week off to celebrate,” he added with Jamaican flag and Canadian flag emojis.

“Oh boy the secret to my kick is out,” Knight, the 2017 NCAA Division One cross-country champion, wrote in reply to Gladwell. The 21-year-old Toronto native who attends Syracuse University is known for his late-race accelerations.